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142 Corporate Communications in Practice

organizations that were once within the public sector are either being privatized, or
that changes are carried out within them because the government sees benefits in
requiring public organizations to become more sharply focused on markets, and
specifically on customer requirements and competitive pressures. Many public orga-
nizations have therefore developed marketing expertise in recent years, and have
brought marketing communications professionals in-house. Often these professionals
are incorporated into the staff communications department, from the viewpoint that
marketing communications needs to be aligned with the other communications of
the organization that are aimed at informing and gaining acceptance among stake-
holders for the public good that the organization delivers.Alternatively, the profession-
als in marketing communications may be departmentized as a separate service unit
and placed in the ‘line’ of the organization near the core operating units, or placed
under marketing (when the organization has set up such a department).

The professional service organization. Traditionally-based values are often of particu-
lar importance in professional service organizations where professional advice has
traditionally been seen as more important than revenue earning capability. To a large
extent this was the case in medicine,accountancy,law and other professions.Therefore,
many of these organizations consisted of either a simple functional structure built
around the expertise – and the products and services associated with it (often defined
as ‘practice areas’) – of their professionals and a number of supporting departments
(finance, human resource, and research and development), or more loose network
structures in the case of larger, geographically dispersed professional service organi-
zations.The latter network structure is often the case in private sector professional
service firms with global acumen and a partnership structure (i.e. partners managing
and/or owning local branches) in place. Either way, the structure of professional
service organizations is typically geared towards the development and nurturing of
specific professional expertise (whether in law,accountancy,medicine or management
consultancy) and the acquisition of clients through direct selling or referral,and therefore
lacks separate,fully developed marketing or communications departments.As with the
small business, communications and marketing responsibilities, if they exist, are typi-
cally added to and integrated within existing responsibilities of professionals in each
of the firm’s practice areas. Some professional service organizations have, however, in
recent years added a small communications unit to their supporting departments,usually
charged with assisting in the acquisition of clients through the production of commu-
nications materials (website, brochures, etc.).

5.4 Horizontal structure

The horizontal organization involves a whole raft of coordination mechanisms that
companies implement to integrate the work processes that are carried out in dis-
parate parts of the organization. In the area of communications, horizontal mecha-
nisms are furthermore important as these enable companies to respond quickly and
effectively to emergent issues or shifting priorities of stakeholder groups, and allow
for the exercise of control and ensuring that consistent messages are being sent out